The freight train and the automobile collided at a crossing at the intersection of Rosecrans and Marquardt avenues around 11:45 p.m. Monday, said Lt. Mike Przybyl of the Whittier Police Department, which patrols Santa Fe Springs.

Firefighters freed the woman, who was the car's only occupant, and took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Przybyl said.

The car, which was badly mangled in the crash, collided with a BNSF train, a news photographer reported from the scene.

The woman was in her mid-20s, said Lt. Joe Bale of the Los Angeles County coroner's office.